Wednesday, April 28, 2010

WASHINGTON -- NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has passed its most significant mission milestone to date, the Mission Critical Design Review, or MCDR. This signifies the integrated observatory will meet all science and engineering requirements for its mission.

"I'm delighted by this news and proud of the Webb program's great technical achievements," said Eric Smith, Webb telescope program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The independent team conducting the review confirmed the designs, hardware and test plans for Webb will deliver the fantastic capabilities always envisioned for NASA's next major space observatory. The scientific successor to Hubble is making great progress."

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, in Greenbelt, Md., manages the mission. Northrop Grumman, Redondo Beach, Calif., is leading the design and development effort.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Operational Environmental Satellite – GOES-15 – took its first Imager full-disk infrared image of the Earth on April 26 starting at 1730 UTC (1:30 p.m. EDT). Each of the five Imager spectral bands are shown. There is one visible band and four infrared bands (shortwave window, water vapor, longwave window and a CO2 sensitive band)

The Sounder is another instrument on GOES-15 which also took Infrared images of the Earth. The Sounder is designed to provide data from which atmospheric temperature and moisture profiles, surface and cloud-top temperatures, and ozone distribution can be deduced by mathematical analysis.

GOES-15 also provides visible images of Earth. On April 6, GOES-15 captured its first visible image of Earth.

Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko worked to outfit the newest crew quarters, which was delivered to the station aboard space shuttle Discovery during the STS-131 mission. The modular crew quarters facilities provide each of the station’s occupants with their own “personal space” that resembles a booth. In their quarters they can stow their personal belongings, rest and spend their recreational time. Each unit provides the crew member with visual, light and acoustic isolation, as well as laptop connectivity.

Flight Engineer Tracy Caldwell Dyson spent time collecting and analyzing water samples from the orbital outpost’s water processing system.

Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi conducted maintenance on the cooling loops for the U.S. spacesuits in the Quest airlock in preparation for spacewalks to be performed by the STS-132 crew, set to arrive at the station aboard space shuttle Atlantis next month.

Over the weekend, the crew completed the annual maintenance work on the Treadmill Vibration Isolation System and completed the relocation of the COLBERT treadmill into the Tranquility node.

The ISS Progress 35 undocked from the Pirs Docking Compartment Thursday after being loaded with trash and other unneeded gear and equipment. The Progress will be used for scientific experiments until it is deorbited and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere this week.

The ISS Progress 37 cargo ship was transported to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan for final preparations for launch on Wednesday. Progress 37 will dock to the station Saturday, bringing 1,918 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen and air, 220 pounds of water and 3,031 pounds of spare parts and experiment hardware.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Expedition 23 Commander and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov downlinked live video and audio of the treadmill while it was operating inside the Zvezda service module. Kotov identified unusual sounds and motion coming from the treadmill and was working with ground controllers to see if there was a problem. Ground controllers determined everything was nominal but continued to analyze the issue.

With American and Russian spacecraft coming and going to the station over the next two months, the docked ISS Progress 36 supply craft fired its engines on Friday afternoon to raise the orbiting laboratory to the proper altitude.

The ISS Progress 35 undocked from the Pirs Docking Compartment on Thursday after being loaded with trash and other unneeded gear and equipment. The Progress will be used for scientific experiments until it is deorbited and burned up in the Earth's atmosphere next week.

Pirs will host the new ISS Progress 37 when it docks on Saturday, May 1. ISS Progress 37 will bring to the station 1,918 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen and air, 220 pounds of water and 3,031 pounds of spare parts and experiment hardware.

Space shuttle Atlantis will arrive at the International Space Station in May for the 12-day STS-132 mission. On June 2, Expedition 23 crew members Kotov, T.J. Creamer and Noguchi will return home in the Soyuz TMA-17. Expedition 24 crew members Fyodor Yurchikhin, Doug Wheelock and Shannon Walker will arrive in the Soyuz TMA-19 to begin their stay on June 18.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Expedition 23 crew members aboard the International Space Station were busy Wednesday preparing for the undocking of the ISS Progress 35 supply ship. They also performed routine station maintenance and worked with science experiments.

The unmanned Progress cargo resupply vehicle is scheduled to undock at 12:32 p.m. EDT Thursday from the Pirs docking compartment. Filled with trash and station discarded items, the cargo craft will deorbit and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

ISS Progress 35 arrived at the station Oct. 17 after launching Oct. 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko tested the Russian telerobotically operated rendezvous system, TORU, which they can use to monitor the Progress undocking or take control of the process in the unlikely event that difficulties arise with the automated Kurs system.

The Russians also performed maintenance on the Treadmill Vibration Isolation System (TVIS). The TVIS is an important part of the exercise regimen aboard the station. Each crew member exercises for 2.5 hours daily to stave off the effects of long-term exposure to weightlessness.

Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Tracy Caldwell Dyson worked on a variety of research, including the Evaluation of Maximal Oxygen Uptake and Submaximal Estimates of VO2max Before, During, and After Long Duration International Space Station Missions (VO2max) experiment, which looks at the working capacity of humans in microgravity, and the Transgenic Arabidopsis Gene Expression System (TAGES) experiment, which uses plants specially fitted with genes that make them glow so that scientists can monitor how they grow in the space environment.

Meanwhile, Flight Engineer Soichi Noguchi inspected hatch seals around the station. He also worked with the Reaction Self Test experiment that helps monitor the daily effects of living in space.

Space shuttle Discovery descended to a smooth landing Tuesday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to conclude the STS-131 mission that brought 7.6 tons of supplies and equipment to the station, including a new crew sleeping quarters, a new ammonia tank, a new gyroscope and four experiment racks.

Monday, April 19, 2010

The Expedition 23 crew and the STS-131 crew of space shuttle Discovery parted company Saturday at 8:52 a.m., wrapping up a mission that brought 7.6 tons of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station, including a new crew sleeping quarters, a new ammonia tank, a new gyroscope and four experiment racks.

Discovery arrived at the station on April 7.

The mission was the final roundtrip to the station for the 21-foot-long, 15-foot-diameter Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo. It will return to Earth in Discovery’s cargo bay with about 2.5 tons from the station. Once back on Earth, the module will be reconfigured with increased shielding on the outside for the STS-133 mission in September when it will be left on the station as a permanent module.

Friday, April 16, 2010

"Just in time for the 2010 hurricane season, NOAA will have one of its newest, technologically advanced satellites closely tracking these storms – from when they develop to when they dissipate," said Mary Kicza, assistant administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Satellite and Information Service in Silver Spring, Md.

NASA's GOES Project, located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., procures and manages the development and launch of the GOES series of satellites for NOAA on a cost-reimbursable basis. NASA's GOES Project also creates some of the GOES satellite images and GOES satellite imagery animations. NOAA manages the operational environmental satellite program and establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States.

"It is exciting to think that we are now putting into service the best satellites this country has to offer," said Andre' Dress, GOES N-P NASA Deputy Project Manager, at Goddard. "We are really looking forward to see the increase in performance over the older satellites and the improvements in weather prediction."

Thursday, April 15, 2010

After dealing with a balky set of bolt controllers, the combined crew of space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station removed the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module from its station port Thursday.

The crew then used the station’s robotic arm to maneuver the module into position above Discovery’s payload bay. Leonardo will remain in this “low hover” position overnight, and the crew will spend about an hour and a half finishing the job of using Canadarm2 to latch it in the shuttle’s cargo bay on Friday.

Leonardo brought about six tons of material to the station and will return to Earth in Discovery’s cargo bay with about 2.5 tons from the station.

This is the final roundtrip to the station for the 21-foot-long, 15-foot-diameter Leonardo. Once back on Earth, the module will be reconfigured with increased shielding on the outside for the STS-133 mission in September when it will be left on the station as a permanent module.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Spacewalkers Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson completed the third and final spacewalk of the STS-131 mission at 8:38 a.m. EDT. They finished the installation of a new ammonia tank for the International Space Station’s cooling systems during the 6-hour, 24-minute excursion.

The spacewalk was replanned because of some difficulties bolting down the new ammonia tank on Sunday. Mastracchio wore a suit with red stripes around the legs and Anderson wore an unmarked suit. Mission Specialist Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger coordinated the spacewalk from inside the complex.

Transfer activities resumed inside the station. With about three-quarters of the science rack, equipment, food and supply moves complete, the shuttle and station crews are working to get all the items into their final locations.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson configured their tools in the Quest airlock. After a review of spacewalk procedures with other crew members, they are again spending the night in the airlock, its pressure reduced to 10.2 psi. That campout is aimed at reducing the nitrogen in their blood to avoid decompression sickness.

The third and final STS-131 spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 3:11 a.m. EDT Tuesday and last 6.5 hours. Activities include finishing the complicated change out of the large ammonia tank assembly, retrieving micrometeoroid shields from outside the airlock and retrieving a light-weight adapter plate assembly.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Spacewalkers Rick Mastracchio and Clay Anderson completed a six-hour, 27-minute spacewalk at 7:58 a.m. EDT. The pair finished all the primary jobs they were assigned and a few “get ahead” tasks that were added to their timeline.

This was the first of three STS-131 spacewalks, the 234th conducted by U.S. astronauts, and the second Mastracchio and Anderson have conducted together. It was the 141st in support of International Space Station assembly and maintenance, totaling 879 hours, 43 minutes. It was the 113th spacewalk out of the space station, totaling 692 hours, 28 minutes.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

It was moving day aboard the International Space Station as the Leonardo Multipurpose Logistics Module was relocated from Discovery’s payload bay to a port on the Harmony node at 12:24 a.m. EDT Thursday.

The Italian-built module’s more than 17,000 pounds of cargo includes four experiment racks along with the final private crew quarters. This is the final roundtrip to the station for the 21-foot-long, 15-foot-diameter Leonardo. Once back on Earth, the module will be reconfigured with increased shielding on the outside for the STS-133 mission in September when it will be left on the station as a permanent module.

Crew members continued the transfer of items from Discovery’s middeck to the station and configured the Quest airlock module for the first of three planned spacewalks, scheduled to begin Friday morning at about 1:40. Discovery Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson will serve as the spacewalk team for all three.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The International Space Station is seen from the centerline camera system inside space shuttle Discovery's orbiter docking system. Space shuttle Discovery and the STS-131 crew docked with the International Space Station at 3:44 a.m. EDT Wednesday. After a series of leak checks between the vehicles the crew opened the hatches and joined Expedition 23 aboard the outpost at 5:11 a.m. Discovery is delivering new science racks and ammonia tanks. While there, two shuttle astronauts will perform three spacewalks to switch out ammonia tanks on the station.

Several “firsts” in the space business occurred with hatch opening: the first time four women have been aboard the same spacecraft during a mission and the first time two Japanese astronauts have been aboard the space station simultaneously.

For the latest news and information on the STS-131 mission, visit the main shuttle page.

Calling the launch, "a great start to a great mission," Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations, said the successful liftoff was a tribute to the team at Kennedy that got the vehicle ready to fly.

Mike Moses, chair of the Mission Management Team, said it was, "a spectacular launch and picture-perfect countdown." He outlined a few minor technical issues that were recorded, but that the spacecraft and crew were ready to start an action-packed mission.

Expressing his happiness that they were able to launch on the first attempt, Pete Nickolenko, STS-131 launch director, said he was proud of the teams that make such a difficult job look so easy.

Also on hand was Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency President Keiji Tachikawa, who noted that this will be the first time two Japanese astronauts will be in space at the same time, as Discovery's Mission Specialist Naoko Yamazaki joins Expedition 23 crew member Soichi Noguchi for the STS-131 mission.

Discovery and crew will spend 13 days in space on their mission to the International Space Station.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Expedition 23 Commander Oleg Kotov and Flight Engineers T.J. Creamer and Soichi Noguchi are currently the sole residents on the station, having arrived Dec. 22 aboard their Soyuz TMA-17 spacecraft.

Caldwell Dyson, Skvortsov and Kornienko will complete the Expedition 23 crew when they dock to the station shortly before 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

Kotov, Creamer and Noguchi wrapped up a busy week Friday as they prepared their orbital home for its new residents and geared up for joint operations set to begin when space shuttle Discovery arrives on April 7. Discovery and the STS-131 crew are scheduled to launch April 5 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida to deliver new science racks and ammonia tanks.

Kotov conducted a survey of the Russian segment of the station, estimating the stowage space available for additional equipment. Afterward he set up hardware for a Russian science experiment that remotely measures methane and carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

At the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, Expedition 23 Flight Engineers Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Alexander Skvortsov and Mikhail Kornienko made final preparations Thursday for their launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-18 spacecraft to the International Space Station. Their two-day journey to the station will begin with a launch set for 12:04 a.m. EDT Friday.

Launch coverage from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan will air live on NASA TV beginning at 11:15 p.m. Thursday.